Abstract
A growing body of work suggests that social and activity participation (SAP) may contribute to health and wellbeing.
Studies examining the effects of these activities largely focused on healthy older adults and older adults
with more resources, not on frail older adults. On the latter, there is a lack of information about which activities
contribute most and whether their effects vary between men and women given the gender-differentiated social
roles. To address these gaps we extracted longitudinal data from the D-SCOPE frailty program for 380 participants
aged 60 years or older residing in Belgium. Structural equation models tested the relationships between six
levels of SAP based on a taxonomy of social activities (Levasseur et al., 2010) – from level 1 (for oneself) to level
6 (for others) – on longitudinal changes in physical and mental deterioration, well-being, and gender differences
within these relationships. Results first show that older adults at risk of frailty benefit longitudinally from
participating in activities in terms of their physical deterioration and well-being. Second, socially oriented activities
were significantly associated with lower levels of physical deterioration and higher levels of subjective
well-being (SWB), and volunteering with higher levels of SWB. Heterogeneity of activities, regardless of level on
the taxonomy of social activities, seems to benefit SWB and counteract physical deterioration. Third, gender
differences were confirmed by two activities for women (alone, task-oriented) and three activities for men (alone,
being with others, task-oriented e.g. associational membership). Results imply that the activity itself may play a
more important role than the nature of social involvement and social interaction in relation to health and
wellbeing.
Studies examining the effects of these activities largely focused on healthy older adults and older adults
with more resources, not on frail older adults. On the latter, there is a lack of information about which activities
contribute most and whether their effects vary between men and women given the gender-differentiated social
roles. To address these gaps we extracted longitudinal data from the D-SCOPE frailty program for 380 participants
aged 60 years or older residing in Belgium. Structural equation models tested the relationships between six
levels of SAP based on a taxonomy of social activities (Levasseur et al., 2010) – from level 1 (for oneself) to level
6 (for others) – on longitudinal changes in physical and mental deterioration, well-being, and gender differences
within these relationships. Results first show that older adults at risk of frailty benefit longitudinally from
participating in activities in terms of their physical deterioration and well-being. Second, socially oriented activities
were significantly associated with lower levels of physical deterioration and higher levels of subjective
well-being (SWB), and volunteering with higher levels of SWB. Heterogeneity of activities, regardless of level on
the taxonomy of social activities, seems to benefit SWB and counteract physical deterioration. Third, gender
differences were confirmed by two activities for women (alone, task-oriented) and three activities for men (alone,
being with others, task-oriented e.g. associational membership). Results imply that the activity itself may play a
more important role than the nature of social involvement and social interaction in relation to health and
wellbeing.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 113668 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-10 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Social Science & Medicine |
| Volume | 270 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 16 Feb 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The present study was made possible through funding of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) and the Flemish Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology (Grant number IWT-140027-SBO , D-SCOPE Project). The D-SCOPE consortium is an international research consortium of researchers from Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium (Dr. An-Sofie Smetcoren, Prof. Dr. Sarah Dury, Prof. Dr. Liesbeth De Donder, Prof. Dr. Eva Dierckx, Dr. Deborah Lambotte, Dr. Bram Fret, Dr. Daan Duppen, Prof. Dr. Martinus Kardol,Prof. Dr. Dominique Verté and Sylvia Hoens); University College Ghent, Belgium (Dr. Lieve Hoeyberghs, Prof. Dr. Nico De Witte); Universiteit Antwerpen, Belgium (Dr. Ellen De Roeck, Prof. Dr. Sebastiaan Engelborghs, Prof. Dr. Peter Paul De Deyn); Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium (Michaël Van der Elst, Prof. Dr. Jan De Lepeleire, Prof. Dr. Birgitte Schoenmakers) and Maastricht University, The Netherlands (Dr. Anne van der Vorst, Prof. Dr. Rixt Zijlstra, Prof. Dr. Gertrudis Kempen, Prof. Dr. Jos Schols).
Funding Information:
The present study was made possible through funding of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) and the Flemish Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology (Grant number IWT-140027-SBO, D-SCOPE Project). The D-SCOPE consortium is an international research consortium of researchers from Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium (Dr. An-Sofie Smetcoren, Prof. Dr. Sarah Dury, Prof. Dr. Liesbeth De Donder, Prof. Dr. Eva Dierckx, Dr. Deborah Lambotte, Dr. Bram Fret, Dr. Daan Duppen, Prof. Dr. Martinus Kardol,Prof. Dr. Dominique Verté and Sylvia Hoens); University College Ghent, Belgium (Dr. Lieve Hoeyberghs, Prof. Dr. Nico De Witte); Universiteit Antwerpen, Belgium (Dr. Ellen De Roeck, Prof. Dr. Sebastiaan Engelborghs, Prof. Dr. Peter Paul De Deyn); Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium (Michaël Van der Elst, Prof. Dr. Jan De Lepeleire, Prof. Dr. Birgitte Schoenmakers) and Maastricht University, The Netherlands (Dr. Anne van der Vorst, Prof. Dr. Rixt Zijlstra, Prof. Dr. Gertrudis Kempen, Prof. Dr. Jos Schols).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords
- Social participation
- Activities
- Frailty
- Health
- Subjective well-being (SWB)
- Gender
- Longitudinal data
- Structural equation modeling